Greetings from rainy London!  I landed in London City Airport last night around 8:30pm, London time. Thanks to Friday Night Lights season 3 and a cold Heineken, the airport wait and the flight went very smoothly. My office offers a free shuttle service to the airport multiple times an hour which is faster than the TPG bus and a very nice perk. It only took 45 minutes from the minute I left the office until I had cleared security and was sitting in the lounge. 

Unfortunately, I was so excited to see Bo that going to sleep last night was not very easy. I finally fell asleep around midnight only to wake up at 5:15am for my 16 mile long run. By 6am I was out the door and heading towards the Thames River path for 6 solo miles in the cool, damp London morning.

I worked to keep my pace slower than normal during these first few miles as I know how important this is for long runs and marathon training. I also forced myself to sip water constantly as I’m guilty of not drinking enough, especially during cool weather long runs.

By 7am I was standing in Westminster Tube station waiting for my running date. After years of following her on Twitter, I finally had the pleasure of meeting Charlie this morning for a scenic ten mile run around London. Earlier in the week when I asked my London running bloggers if anyone wanted to join for a long run Friday morning, she responded within minutes! Not only did she volunteer to run 10 miles with me but she also took the time to put together an awesome, scenic route that would give me an opportunity to see new areas of the city!

I am so thankful, especially here in Europe, for my blog and the many amazing people it has helped me meet thus far!

Our ten miles took us by some of the well known London sites with one huge benefit – there were no tourists! Running early allowed us to enjoy the paths to ourselves and catch some things we wouldn’t see otherwise such as a stray fox crossing the path, military men training near the park, perfect views of the palace, and streets that were far easier to cross than normal! 

Three parks, two palaces, one river, and 10 miles later we ended back where we began, right in front of the Westminster Tube station, within view of Big Ben!

Running with Charlie was so much fun as it was our first time running together so the conversation flowed continuously and made the rainy miles pass far faster! My pace hovered around 9:55 during my first 6 and around 10:10 during the ten miles with Charlie, perfectly on target!

I am so thankful for a new friend in London and look forward to many more runs and activities together! It’s fun having an expert recommend her favorite workout classes, running routes, bars, restaurants, and shopping in the city!

Choose your city! If you could run or walk through any city in the world tomorrow which city would you choose? Why? I would love to do an architecture run through Barcelona! I never made it there during my summer studying abroad in Cadiz, Spain and have longed to visit ever since!